The instant invention relates to crop-harvesting apparatus, and specifically to a collector apparatus which is constructed to collect the maximum amount of harvested crop with minimal damage to the crop-bearing plants.
Harvesters that are used for harvesting crops which grow on bushy plants arranged in rows, such as raspberries, blueberries, grape, jojoba, etc., generally utilize spring-biased pivotal platforms which form a more or less solid surface under the crop-bearing plants and which catch the fruit as the fruit is shaken off the plants. The small platforms open and close around the plants as the machine advances along a row. The problem with this type of arrangement is that the open area formed as the platforms swing around a plant allows a significant portion of the harvest to drop on to the ground rather than onto the harvester.
Additionally, spring-biased platforms can cause damage to the crop-bearing plants because they tend to abrade the plants where the platforms rub on the plants, breaking the bark of the plant and potentially allowing the plants to become infected. Another drawback with spring-biased platforms is the requirement that the platforms slope downward away from the plants so that the harvested crop will fall, under the influence of gravity, to a conveyor which moves the crops to a boxing station. Finally, the spring-biased platforms generally restrict the harvester vehicle to one way travel, as the biasing mechanism will not permit the harvester to back once it has entered a row and the platforms have engaged the plants therein.
An object of the instant invention is to provide a collector apparatus which will collect a maximum amount of harvested crop.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide a collecting apparatus which has a continuous, pliable and resilient conveyor belt which is deformable into a harvest-containing pocket.
A further object of the instant invention is to provide a collector apparatus which in an noninjurious manner compresses the base of crop-bearing plants as the collector apparatus moves along a plant row.
Yet another object of the instant invention is to provide a collector apparatus which is virtually nonabrasive to crop-yielding plants.
Still another object of the instant invention is to provide a collector apparatus which has means for training a conveyor belt about a racetrack-like run with a harvested crop retained on the conveyor belt.
A further object of the instant invention is to provide a collector apparatus which includes means for driving a conveyor belt at an essentially zero velocity relative to crop bearing plants.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide a collector apparatus which operates close to ground level.
A further object of the instant invention is to provide a collector apparatus which includes means for flexibly and resiliently attaching a conveyor belt frame to a harvester vehicle.
The collector apparatus of the instant invention is intended for use on a harvester vehicle for collecting a crop harvested from plants arranged in rows. The apparatus includes a pair of elongate, continuous conveyor belts formed of pliable and resilient material, each conveyor belt having elongate inner and outer runs, the inner runs being disposed adjacent and opposite each other. The conveyor belts have an upwardly facing surface delineated between the lateral margins of the belt. An elongate conveyor frame is associated with each belt for supporting the conveyor belt and includes training means for training the conveyor belts thereabout. Means are provided for driving the conveyor belts in counter rotating paths. Attachment means are provided for attaching the conveyor frames to the vehicle.
These and other objects and advantages of the instant invention will become more fully apparent as the description which follows is read in conjunction with the drawings.